Qatar Post to launch facility for Kahramaa bill payment

Qatar’s General Postal Corporation (Q-Post), as part of its expansion programme, plans to offer the e-resident services from all the 24 post offices in Qatar before the end of this year, Abdulla Al Hajri, head of public relations and customer services said.

Q-Post will also launch the facility of paying electricity and water bills at its branches within the next couple of weeks, he added.

Currently, e-resident services, which provides for renewal of Residence Permits of those on personal sponsorships, is available only through two Q-Post branches, the Doha General Post Office and the corporation’s outlet at the LuLu Hypermarket.

The service can be used by Qatari nationals and expatriates to renew the RPs of their family members, domestic helpers and other servants. He said that among the first branches where the service will be extended to include the Doha International Airport Post Office, which will shortly be equipped with state-of-the-art equipment to offer all postal services and the e-resident facility.

He disclosed that Q-Post, by the end of this month, plans to launch the facility of payment of Kahramaa bills through its various post offices. Currently, most major post offices accept Qatar Telecom bills.

Abdulla said that Q-Post had recently expanded its Money Order service to cover countries in the Indian sub-continent such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal, through the Doha GPO.

However, in the next couple of weeks, this service will be offered through five more branches such as the Industrial Area Post Office, the airport post office and the Al Khor Post Office, among others, which cater to sizeable numbers of expatriate communities in those areas.

Q-Post charges a fee of QR 10 for sending an MO worth QR 1,000 and QR 20 for higher amounts, up to QR 10,000. Money Orders sent from Qatar, he said, usually reach their destinations in about a week.

He said that through its tie-ups with foreign postal administrations, Q-Post was able to offer MO services in 25 countries. The facility is attractive since the remitter in Qatar can select the nearest post office from where the beneficiary can collect the money, even though it may be in some remote corner of that country. Similar services to India are also planned and expected to be launched in coming months, after the required agreements between Q-Post and its Indian counterpart, are signed.